Good Bye Old Friend

Almost 13 years ago, Mike and I got our first "child." We brought home this little ball of fluff we named Amber. Mike will tell you she was my dog. My name was on her registration papers, not his. But she was his also. She went almost everywhere with us. We were driving a Dodge Shadow at the time that had bucket seats. We'd put her in the back and she would shoulder her way up between us. There she would stand with her paws on the center console and her head between our shoulders. At night she would sleep on her dog bed that was right beside our bed.

When we were expecting Miracle people asked if we were going to get rid of Amber. After all, she was a ferocious Chow. She would eat our baby! We never had a problem with Amber. She was that way with Grace also. Whenever Grace would get on her nerves, Amber would just get up and leave. Unfortunately, once Grace became mobile, it became more difficult for Amber to escape.

Amber slowed down as she got older. It was more difficult for her to get up and down. Her bones hurt and she couldn't see out of one eye. Her hearing was starting to go. She spent most of her time laying on the living room floor, sleeping. Between the kids and the cat she didn't get as much sleep as she wanted, but that's pretty much all she did.

Last November, Amber had a seizure one evening. It was pretty scary. And it made us realize how old she really was. I looked and actually saw the gray in her coat. I saw how thin she had become. But by the next morning, everything seemed to be back to normal and I took her for granted again.

Yesterday, Amber couldn't get up. She started to, and then fell over. Mike helped her up, and then helped her outside. She stayed out there the rest of the day. She could barely move. It was painful to watch her try. Mike and I talked about it and made that very difficult decision.

We had to tell Miracle this morning. She cried and cried. She went outside to say goodbye, came back in and cried some more. Mike went out to take her to the vet, and she was gone.

Goodbye Amber. You were a good dog. We'll miss you.